flower girl

allie got the flower girl dress in the mail from emily (or "emie" as allie likes to call her)... she was really excited. we all think she looks beautiful. of course she wouldn't smile, but at least she sat still so we could snap one quick picture.

two little monkeys

we went to the church carnival on sunday and took our two little monkeys. caleb looked cute and enjoyed being outside, but other than that had NO CLUE what was going on. Allie, on the other hand... played a few games and won some candy. each time she was allowed to pick a piece of candy she would choose a sucker. everytime that she saw one of her friends she would give them her candy. Before we even had dinner, she had only five pieces of candy left. After dinner she was completely juiced up and spent half an hour running circles around the storm drain... NO LIE! I finally convinced her to try the duck game again which ended with her left foot in the baby pool... bad idea mom! all in all, we had a great time and didn't have to bring much candy home!

goodness, grace, and LOTS of patience

i just thought that i'd share a little of my heart tonight. the lord has been sooo good to me. the majority of our family has been sick for almost a month... if it isn't one thing, it is another. this and many other factors sent me into a tailspin of selfpity. the largest of those factors being the behavior of both kids. allie is about to turn two (you can imagine the tantrums) and caleb is reaching a new level of opinions along with independence.

one morning in frustrated prayer, i asked the lord to show me just a tiny bit of change in my children...any thing that would show me that they were improving... growth! i so clearly heard him tell me that he was not growing them right now - he was growing me! after i caught my breath from such a radical thought, i smiled. it is in perserverance that people grow... without it we'd be the same.... so i press on with a grin, knowing that God, in his infinite wisdom is showering me with goodness, grace, and HOPEFULLY lots of patience.

Rose Parade

i didn't get to go to many parades as a kid and now i think i might know why. we took the kids to the rose parade in tyler on saturday... what an adventure. lance and i were pleasantly surprised that both our children were VERY interested until the last half hour. but just so you have a taste of what we experienced i'll give you a list...
1. a band
2. shriners
3. dogs
4. shriners
5. a band
6. girls on a float
7. shriners
8. antique tractors
9. shriners
10. clowns
11. shriners
12. girls on floats
13. shriners
14. a band
15. shriners
16. the queen (we think... )
17. street sweepers

LOTS OF FUN! WISH YOU WERE THERE!
NOTE: THE PICTURE IS OF THE STATE CHAMPION ORIENTAL BAND!????

pumpkin patch

this morning we loaded up and headed to the pumpkin patch! the kids had a great time playing in corn feed, chasing chickens, taking a hayride, and pickin' out pumpkins. allie liked the black chicken better than the pumpkins. lance asked if we could trade two pumpkins for the chicken... they said no. oh, well. we met our friends danny, kara, eli, and nate. the older kiddos (allie and eli) got filthy, but had a fantastic time. eli picked out his own little pumpkin and carried it around. we tried to help allie find one that she could carry, but OF COURSE she only wanted a BIG one! So we came home with a big one for Caleb and a HUGE one for allie. Got to love it! it was definitely time for a BIG nap when we got home.

always look both ways

sprinkler park

today i took the kids to the sprinkler park in tyler. allie never stopped running. she had a ball. i didn't realize that caleb would be able to sit and play too - so, poor kid didn't even have a swimsuit on. But, he crawled around and got wet. He didn't like the water spraying him in the eyes one bit! we met many of our friends there.... hank and landry, eli and nate, walker and miller, luke and maggie, and carlin. what fun! we may make it a weekly playdate!